A Trio of Italian Renaissance Medals

Cardinal Pietro Barbo

Anonymous Roman artist, 1455.

Bronze, 33.8 mm Ø, 27.8 g

Obverse: Bust of Pietro Barbo facing left, tonsured, wearing decorative cope fastened with morse. Around, PETRVS · BARBVS VENETVS CARDINALIS S MARCI (Pietro Barbo, Venetian, Cardinal of Saint Mark).

Reverse: Coat of arms of Barbo, consisting of a lion rampant facing left over which is a diagonal band, surmounted by a cardinal's hat with tassels. Around, HAS · AEDES · CONDIDIT ANNO CHRISTI · M · CCCCLV (He founded this building in the year of Christ 1455).

Pietro Barbo was born in Venice on February 23, 1417, his father a member of the noble Barbo family. After the election of his uncle as Pope Eugenius IV, he was created cardinal deacon in 1440 and later made cardinal bishop of San Marco in 1451 under Pope Nicholas V. A humanist and antiquarian, Barbo amassed large collections of art, coins, and gems. He was elected pope in 1464, taking the name Paul II, and died in 1471.

The inscription on the reverse of this medal refers to the Palazzo di San Marco, which adjoined Barbo's titular church of San Marco in Venice. In 1455, be began to rebuild the church and palace, though the project remained unfinished at his death. The obverse of this medal was also combined with a reverse showing a view of the palace, and the reverse inscription is present on the east front of the building. Called the Palazzo Venezia today, these medals were used as foundation deposits, and examples have been found in the walls of the cellars since the nineteenth century.

References: Hill 1930, no. 737; Pollard 2007a, no. 233

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Cardinal Guillaume d'Estouteville

Attributed to Cristoforo di Geremia, 1461 or later.

Bronze, 46.9 mm Ø, 50.2 g

Obverse: Bust of Guillaume d'Estouteville facing right, tonsured, wearing pleated vestment. Around, G · DESTOVEVILLA · EPIS · OSTI · CAR · ROTHO · S · R · E · CAM (Guillaume d'Estouteville, Bishop of Ostia, Cardinal of Rouen, Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church). The beginning and end of the inscription is divided by a fleur-de-lis.

Reverse: Coat of arms of Guillaume d'Estouteville, surmounted by a cardinal's hat with tassels

Guillaume d'Estouteville (c. 1412-1483) was a French bishop and cardinal who held a number of Church positions. He was created cardinal in 1439, named archbishop of Rouen in 1453, and named bishop of Ostia in 1461; the presence of this last title on the inverse inscription precludes a date of earlier than 1461 for the medal. As papal legate to France, he also undertook the retrial of Joan of Arc in 1452.

References: Hill 1930, no. 757; Pollard 2007a, no. 243

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Fra Benedetto Tiezzi

In the style of Niccolò Fiorentino, c. 1500.

Lead, 85.6 mm Ø, 423.3 g

Obverse: Bust of Benedetto Tiezzi facing right, tonsured, wearing hooded habit. Around, BENEDICTVS · THETIVS · FLORIANEN .

Reverse: Minerva standing wearing winged helmet, holding an open book in her right hand and resting her left hand on a shield with a gorgon mask. Around, CVNCTA RITE ME DVCE.

Fra Benedetto Tiezzi of Foiano was a Dominican friar in the convent of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. A follower of Girolamo Savonarola, he helped to defend Florence against the Medici and Imperialists. Pope Clement VII (born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici) had Tiezzi imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo, where he died of hunger on September 8, 1531.

Reference: Hill 1930, no. 1088